


Who was she?

by youknowwho2912



Series: I once knew a woman [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: ASoIaF, Alive Starks (ASoIaF), Dead Lyanna Stark, Drunk Robert, Everyone Remembers Lyanna Stark, F/M, R Plus L Equals J | Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen are Jon Snow's Parents, Sibling Incest, Stark-centric (ASoIaF), Twincest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29305332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youknowwho2912/pseuds/youknowwho2912
Summary: The ghost of a woman that once was, still haunts the living.
Relationships: Brandon Stark/Catelyn Tully Stark, Catelyn Stark/Ned Stark, Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister, Jaime Lannister & Rhaegar Targaryen, Jon Snow & Arya Stark & Bran Stark & Ned Stark & Rickon Stark & Robb Stark & Sansa Stark, Jon Snow & Ned Stark, Lyanna Stark & Ned Stark, Lyanna Stark/Rhaegar Targaryen, Robert Baratheon & Cersei Lannister, Robert Baratheon & Jaime Lannister, Robert Baratheon & Ned Stark, Robert Baratheon/Cersei Lannister, Robert Baratheon/Lyanna Stark
Series: I once knew a woman [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2152434
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	Who was she?

**Cersei**

  
Cersei thinks of Lyanna Stark and her insides turn. Thankfully, she does not think of her quite often. Nevertheless, the girl still stays. The haunted face, which Cersei had never had the misfortune to look at, sought her out everywhere. She sees her everywhere. In the nooks and crannies of her bed-chamber, in Eddard Stark's solemn face, in her children, or perhaps in how they came into being. She sees her in the spaces between her and Robert, which has only increased over time. In the words unsaid and tears unshed. She staunchly believes that Lyanna was there when Robert had whispered her name with Cersei underneath. Perhaps Robert had summoned her when he had remembered her out loud. Cersei had heard of many such tales to totally deem it fantastic.

But then Robert always kept calling her out. And the ghost never left. 

She remembers what her husband had said once, about a gaping hole in his heart that even seven kingdoms couldn't fill. She wonders what it is to love someone like this. And she doesn't know if it is a boon or a bane that she would never know. 

  
**Robert**

  
He doesn't even remember what she looked like. Though, he very much remembers what she felt like. Like a prayer. Like wildness on a leash. One that would be unleashed any moment now. Like the biting northern air. Like his dearest Ned. So much similar to him and yet so much different in her wild and willful ways. He feels a smile forming on his face and the pain becomes immensely unbearable again. So he drank. He drank again and again because his stupor took him to a world where Lyanna was not gone and was his. His alone to love. 

But then

a new day would dawn and along with it, the truth.

Lyanna would still be long dead and Robert would still be drunk on the idea that Lyanna and Lyanna alone can cure his ailing heart. 

_Coffin-board, heavy stone,_

_Lie on her breast,_

_I vex my heart alone_

_She is at rest._

**Jaime**

He does not think of Lyanna Stark at all. And when he does, he thinks if the northern girl was worth tearing the seven kingdoms apart. He wanted to ask Rhaegar. But Rheagar is dead. He wants to ask Robert. But thinks his drunken stupor is a testament enough.

He still has his qualms.

But then he sees Cersei and thinks that he would gladly wreck the whole world, thousand times over for her. And at that moment he supposes he understands.

**Catelyn**

Catelyn hates Lyanna. 

She hates her for bringing Brandon to death. _Her wild Brandon._ _And dead before his time Brandon._ The winds chime in. She hates her for the war that brought the bastard boy Jon Snow into her household. She hates her for the death that dances in Ned's solemn face and cold grey eyes. _Her honorable fool. Her Husband._ She hates her for the very reason that she is still a southron in many eyes. Even after so many years. Even after birthing five northern children. She hates that she is still a southron when the long gone Lyanna Stark resides in the heart and hearth of the people of North. 

She hates Lyanna. And she hates herself all the same for hating her.

**Ned**

Lyanna was everywhere. In Benjen's decision to take the Black. In Catelyn's eyes when she is silently comparing him to his dead brother. In his daughters' laughter that echoed along the walls of Winterfell. In the sound of swords clashing in the heart of Godswood. In Robb's vigilance for his pack. In Sansa's love for those stupid songs. In Bran's defiance. In Rickon's wildness. In Arya. In her defiance. In her wilful and wolfish ways. In her loyalty to her pack. Arya was Lyanna. Lyanna is Arya. They are one or the other, the same thing. And then there was Jon. Her own flesh and blood. So different from her and yet so similar that looking at him hurt so much sometimes, he found himself unable to take his eyes away. 

Lyanna was long dead. But she was not gone. Her soul lived inside each one of his six children and showed itself most plainly when one was paying necessary attention.

_And through them, she lived._

And through them, he lived.

**Author's Note:**

> I am in love with this enigma named Lyanna Stark and I desperately hope there is a plausible explanation to justify her actions if she chose to run away with Rheagar because I fear I cannot afford to hate her.


End file.
